What is taskeng.exe?

The .exe extension on a filename indicates an executable file. Executable files may, in some cases, harm your computer. Therefore, please read below to decide for yourself whether the taskeng.exe on your computer is a Trojan that you should remove, or whether it is a file belonging to the Windows operating system or to a trusted application.

Description:The original taskeng.exe from Microsoft is an important part of Windows, but often causes problems. The file taskeng.exe is located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder.
Known file sizes on Windows 8/7/XP are 166,400 bytes (27% of all occurrences), 169,472 bytes and 9 more variants.
The taskeng.exe file is a Windows core system file. The program is not visible. It is a trustworthy file from Microsoft.
Therefore the technical security rating is 3% dangerous; however you should also read the user reviews.

Viruses with the same file name

Is taskeng.exe a virus? No, it is not. The true taskeng.exe file is a safe Microsoft Windows system process, called "Task Scheduler Engine".
However, writers of malware programs, such as viruses, worms, and Trojans deliberately give their processes the same file name to escape detection. Viruses with the same file name are such as Worm:Win32/Silly_P2P.H or VirTool:Win32/Injector.gen!AD (detected by Microsoft), and WORM_IRCBOT.TX or TROJ_DLOADR.ZAA (detected by TrendMicro).
To ensure that no rogue taskeng.exe is running on your PC, click here to run a Free Malware Scan.

How to recognize suspicious variants?

If taskeng.exe is located in a subfolder of "C:\Documents and Settings", the security rating is 71% dangerous. The file size is 55,296 bytes (70% of all occurrences), 13,312 bytes or 433,664 bytes.
There is no description of the program. It is not a Windows system file. The program is not visible. The process is loaded during the Windows boot process (see Registry key: Run, MACHINE\Run, User Shell Folders).
Taskeng.exe is able to monitor applications and manipulate other programs.

If taskeng.exe is located in a subfolder of "C:\Program Files", the security rating is 62% dangerous. The file size is 705,922 bytes (33% of all occurrences), 532,480 bytes or 55,296 bytes.
The program is not visible. The program is loaded during the Windows boot process (see Registry key: Run, MACHINE\Run, User Shell Folders).
The taskeng.exe file is not a Windows system file. There is no information about the author of the file.
Taskeng.exe is able to record keyboard and mouse inputs, monitor applications and manipulate other programs.

If taskeng.exe is located in a subfolder of C:\Windows, the security rating is 16% dangerous. The file size is 464,384 bytes.

Important: Some malware disguises itself as taskeng.exe, particularly when not located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder. Therefore, you should check the taskeng.exe process on your PC to see if it is a threat. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer's security. This was one of the Top Download Picks of The Washington Post and PC World.

Score

User Comments

It's meant to be a task scheduler. It can be used to set up all sorts of automated things in your system. But of course it can also be a loophole for all sorts of fun and funny viruses, such as "potato farmer", which lags your system by putting HUGE files named potato on your desktop, or ones that play creepy music when you don't want it to, etc etc Sigontu

When used in conjunction with the at.exe command, both of which run with system level privledges, a bad guy could do all sorts of nifty things, like allowing lateral movement within a network.

its task scheduler sam

I deleted after heavy trojan behavior, no more problem, no Windows program ask where is taskeng.exe, I live without taskeng.exe one year without any virus or trojan suspicious problem, after I deleted jast told, thamks God, no more problem, simple delete and forget all problem, yes its part of Winds but unnessesary mariska mama

Don't delete this file if its where it should be. (Sys32). It will slow things down if you're on the net and its running. I temporarily disable it with Winpatrol. Should only be one instance of this running, if you have 2, it could be Malware Etc'. M. Smythe

i used control alt delete after i deleted it on task manager and it works normal my computer doesn't see it coming up any more Infinite65

could be used to host malware, however could also be used to contain task scheduling DLLs related to Windows 7. Use process explorer to examine the DLL and Handles (opened files, mutex , etc ) it has in order to inspect anything suspicious If it consumes too much CPU, dump it and inspect it and then kill it

Best practices for resolving taskeng issues

A clean and tidy computer is the key requirement for avoiding problems with taskeng. This means running a scan for malware, cleaning your hard drive using cleanmgr and sfc /scannow, uninstalling programs that you no longer need, checking for Autostart programs (using msconfig) and enabling Windows' Automatic Update. Always remember to perform periodic backups, or at least to set restore points.

Should you experience an actual problem, try to recall the last thing you did, or the last thing you installed before the problem appeared for the first time. Use the resmon command to identify the processes that are causing your problem. Even for serious problems, rather than reinstalling Windows, you are better off doing a repair of your installation, or in the case of Windows 8, executing the DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth command. This allows you to repair the operating system without losing data.

To help you analyze the taskeng.exe process on your computer, the following programs have proven to be helpful: Security Task Manager displays all running Windows tasks, including embedded hidden processes, such as keyboard and browser monitoring or Autostart entries. A unique security risk rating indicates the likelihood of the process being potential spyware, malware or a Trojan. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware detects and removes sleeping spyware, adware, Trojans, keyloggers, malware and trackers from your hard drive.